Category Archives: Homelessness

Deconstructing The Master Narrative of Homelessness

Causes of Homelessness, Homelessness

Living in Portland, Oregon you become desensitized to the homeless because of its prevalence. You stop wondering about the individuals on the streets and their stories and assume their homelessness was a product of mental illness or addiction–you accept the master narrative regarding homelessness in America.

But this week in class the stereotypical narrative surrounding homelessness in America was disrupted. We heard the stories of the homeless, discussed the harsh realities of homelessness, and the systemic forces that “trap” the hungry, homeless, and near homeless in America.  The website “Invisible People” contains interviews with the homeless community and gives them a platform to tell their story. After listening to their stories it is clear that there is no one same experience and the master narrative of the “mentally ill addict” stereotype does not stand true. In fact, it is a stereotype that blames the individual rather than the true culprit–the American class system.

While the cost of living is increasing at an exponential rate and minimum wage is no where near living wage, the American welfare state has retreated. In “A Tattered Safety Net: Social Policy and American Inequality” Colin Gordon explains how social policy exists to cushion the impact of the market and social inequality by securing the incomes of workers and providing support for those who cannot work. Historically the aggressive implementation of public social programs make a huge impact on poverty rates. In the 2012 recession social programs kept roughly 41 million Americans out of poverty, explains Gordon. Unfortunately our welfare state is poorly targeted and leaves low low income families and the childless extremely vulnerable to the impact of the American economy and class system.

This week we dismantled the master narrative surrounding the homeless community. Not only did I learn about individuals stories, the harsh realities of the hungry, homeless, and near homeless, but also the systemic forces in place that “trap” them poverty.

Keeping Our Cities Clean and Making Money

Homelessness, News link, Related topics, Solutions to Poverty

A complaint I hear a lot when people talk about homelessness is how dirty the streets are due to homeless people throwing their waste everywhere. With no personal garbage and recycling bins, people who are homeless have to rely on city garbage cans which can be few and far between. The city of Fort Worth in Texas is trying to combat this problem. Their program called Clean Slate offers paying jobs to homeless people staying at one of their local shelters. The workers earn $10 an hour and receive benefits and vacation time, all while collecting trash around homeless encampments. City-funded, the goal of this program is to employ homeless people and eventually get them employed in stable, long-term positions, even though they are allowed to work for the program as long as they like.

Other cities have decided to replicate this program and I think there’s a large benefit to it. While it is subjecting homeless people to “do the dirty work” and city funding could be going to improve sanitation services, I think that it’s a step in the right direction. Helping these people who are down on their luck by offering a low-wage job adds to a resume and gives work experience and a reference for when they are ready to move on to other work.

The article says that L.A.’s city council signed off to replicate this program in November though I couldn’t find any follow up information on if the city is moving to actually create this program.

Ballor, C. (2018, January 27). Fort Worth pays homeless to help clean up city’s streets. Dallas News. Retrieved January 28, 2018, from https://www.dallasnews.com/news/fort-worth/2018/01/27/fort-worth-pays-homeless-help-clean-citys-streets

L.A. considers hiring homeless people to clean up litter on the streets. (2017, November 1). Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 28, 2018, from http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-homeless-trash-20171101-story.html

The Wicked Problem of Homelessness

Solutions to Homelessness

In the livestream from USC’s MSW program COBI (Community, Organization, Business, and Innovation) on “The Wicked Problem of Homelessness” guest speaker Mollie Lowery speaks on the systemic issues of homelessness. She discusses the transitions between groups, organizations, and systems and how each has tried to change the course of homelessness, but ultimately, failed. What I found to be most interesting from her speech is the emphasis on the empty promises of HUD to produce more affordable housing, as well as the governments claim to build more mental health clinics, while shutting down shelter systems. She touched on how social workers have spent years building the proof, hard facts, data to statistically show how/why homelessness is an issue and the fact mentioned that shocked me is that those who are homeless die thirty years younger than those who have homes. She speaks on the international right for every human to have housing.

One thing about this speech that can help us advocates of ending homelessness is the idea Lowery brings of ending the epidemic called “homelessness crisis” and calling this new issue “ending the housing scarcity” which will bring more empathy, and more efforts from outside forces besides HUD. Lowery explains the essence of what we have been learning in our course for quite some time now: we need to shift from pathologizing individuals for being homeless, and work on the systemic issues at hand. It is not their fault, yet we place blame on the individual all too much. If we can shift to focusing on ending the housing scarcity, we can eliminate homelessness at its core.

On the Streets – Conclusion of a hopeful video series

About being poor, Homelessness, Solutions to Poverty

I have been following the web series “On the Streets” hosted by LA Times contact reporter Lisa Biagiotti as they finish up there twelfth video session to close up the series. Biagiotti seeks out her neighbors Wanda, and more recently, Pepper who have been on the streets for years. Wanda and Biagiotti are close acquaintances ever since Biagiotti struck a conversation with her as Wanda was digging through her recycle bin. Since then, Wanda gives Biagiotti information on her life, and the reality of living on the streets. It was so interesting to see a reporter genuinely interested in the lives of those not spoken for generally in the news.

Wanda in this video introduced Biagiotti to her friend Pepper who had spent years in jail, and on the streets but now is a self-employed truck driver doing well for himself. He was very proud and referred to himself as the “mayor of Skid Row” at one point. He is the only one I believe in the “On the Streets” web series episodes that I have seen that has been self-employed and got himself off the streets.

What I love about these web series episodes is that while Biagiotti is learning aspects of homelessness from her friends and neighbors, she uses this to portray the reality of homelessness to the audience.

She also exposes the situation of her friend Wanda who walks around all day recycling and collecting bottles so she can collect her average of $22.00 a day from the recycling company. Wanda has arthritis in her legs and as Biagiotti notes she has a “swagger” about her because of this. She has no SSI although she has been waiting for the request to be approved. Once she gets the SSI Wanda should be able to at least provide enough support for herself so that she doesn’t have to walk all day long in pain. Situations like this make me confused about why there aren’t programs out there that do more community outreach to find people who need the necessary resources.

Social Support: Loss of Family

About being poor, Causes of Homelessness

Last week at my internship I met one of my case manager’s clients I had been completing paperwork for. I formed the client’s rental packet to assist for the January’s rent, so I was surprised that the client visited us a second time in a month. This client was a single mother of three toddlers with difficult family burdens. When she described her situation and why she was back asking for Redlands Family Services to pay a second month of rent, I wanted to give her the world. She was bright, intelligent, and was her family’s punching bag for all baggage and events that occur within the family. With no one to rely on, she was able to rely on our services. This made me think of the loss of family that some people face that leads them to homelessness. I typically think of death as the tragedy that causes the homelessness, along with other factors, but this time I thought about loss of family from a different perspective. What if the loss of family wasn’t physical but emotional? They are not dead, but emotionally you find yourself unable to connect or feel loved by your family, an outcast essentially. This too, is the type of loss people can face that can lead to financial struggle, emotional instability, and depression/anxiety.

I dwelled on this aspect of family life for a while with my case manager. We discussed how it would feel to be in her shoes. Being kicked down, when you believe things will get better, and having family members tell you “you have failed”. How would I react? Would I have others to rely on? These types of hypothetical questions are often dangerous to think about, but I couldn’t help but reflect on what would happen. I also wonder how many of those who have lost family, have lost family due to death or due to the families unwillingness to help. This emphasizes just how deep the boxes we categorize homelessness as really are in our Hunger and Homelessness course. The main point: everyone is in need of social support.

L.A. city, county OK homeless plans, but where will the money come from?

Homelessness, Housing porgrams, Solutions to Homelessness

The Los Angeles city and county governments have each approved a major plan to combat homelessness.  (See the report in the Los Angeles Times, Feb 10, 2016.)

The county plan calls for setting aside $150 million dollars over the next two years to carry out the strategies that its task force outlined in January.  This includes $26 million for quick turn-around rehousing, $11 million for short-term housing for people coming out of county jails and other institutions, and $8.7 million for subsidies to help disabled homeless people get into housing while waiting for federal Supplemental Security Income.  It makes some efforts to increase the county’s stock of low-cost housing, but building the 15,000 needed additional units would cost far more than the county is promising in this plan.  And the county has yet to figure out where the $150 million will come from.

The city plans to develop “a host of housing programs, create a citywide system of mobile showers and public restrooms, and allow overnight parking at designated sites for people who live in their vehicles.”  These would be spread throughout the city rather than concentrated on L.A.’s ‘Skid Row’.  Unfortunately, the housing programs alone will cost more than $185 billion over the next decade.  Again, the City Council does not yet know where the money will come from.

Both plans were developed to deal with the root causes of homelessness.  They are a response to the recent jump in the number of homeless people counted in all parts of Los Angeles County.

Tiny Houses in Portland’s “Dignity Village”

Solutions to Homelessness

Yes! Magazine just published an article about tiny houses for homeless people in Portland’s “Dignity Village”.

“Located in northeast Portland, Dignity Village is a self-governed gated community, which currently serves 60 people on any given night—the city limits the number—and provides shelter in the form of tiny houses built mainly from donated and recycled materials. The village emerged in the winter of 2000 as a tent city called Camp Dignity. Stationed in downtown Portland, it served as an act of protest against Portland’s then-ban on homeless encampments.  …

Now officially a nonprofit, Dignity Village is governed by a democratically elected council of nine residents, who are responsible for day-to-day decisions; all residents can vote on big decisions, like whether to remove a resident or enter into contracts with service providers, in town hall-style meetings. On a typical night, it provides food, housing, bathrooms, and a mailing address for nearly 60 adults,who pay $35 a month in rent and would otherwise be taking their chances alone sleeping on park benches or city streets.”

All is not roses in the so-called “City of Roses”.  The city limits the number of inhabitants, is still short of affordable housing, and still pushes homeless people out of the city center.  Still, the city lets the village use city-owned land, donates a part-time social worker, and treats this as one solution to its growing homeless problem.

Other cities, including Seattle, Eugene, and Nashville, have observed the program and are trying out their own variations.

Check out the article at http://www.yesmagazine.org/peace-justice/-in-a-tiny-house-village-portlands-homeless-find-dignity-20160128?utm_source=YTW&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=20160129

Teaching Presentation

Homelessness

For my teaching project, I decided to head down to Costa Mesa, California to do my presentation. This took place at my mom’s preschool, A Child’s Place, with the audience bang made up of the eight to ten teachers who work at the preschool. My presentation consisted a number of parts; one being made up of statistics that I have gathered and four others that talked about specific aspects of homelessness. After the presentation of information, I took a few questions from the audience that ranged from bringing up new information to clarifying and going deeper in other information that was said. Because I was presenting at a preschool to the teachers that work there, I decided to tailor parts of my presentation to the aspects of homelessness of children. This would be more relevant and beneficial to my audience.

I broke my presentation down into five different sections. The first section focused on the children aspect of homelessness and talked about the variety of statistics that I had found. In 2011, there were 1,168,354 homeless children that were enrolled in preschools and K-12 programs. This was a 10% jump over the previous year and a 72% increase since the recession in 2008. The percentages of where these children are living are 71% “doubled up” (they share housing situations with others), 15% in shelters, 6% hotels/motels, and 4% are unsheltered. There are one in 45 children that will experience homelessness in America each year. This means that there ill be over 1.6 million children affected. Some other statistics showed how these children have health issues more often than other children and are more exposed to violent situations.

Next I talked about the causes of homelessness and I broke it down into what I consider the five biggest parts. These were the economy, cost to own/rent a house, spousal abuse, drugs, and arrests.

Homeless counts was the next topic and I focused on how these counts are not always done the right way. There really is not an accurate number of how many homeless people there are in any given area. If a city puts enough resources into it they may be able to come up with a more accurate number, but if they do that they then have to spend more into helping the homeless. A lot of cities ignore this then so they do not have to provide services.

I brought up what I thought the best way was to combat homelessness, which was with affordable housing. There was a city back east that bought a building which they allowed homeless to live in if they put 30% of their “income” into (disability payment, social security, etc.) and the rest was paid by public and private grants. They then look at a variety of figures the next year and found surprising results. There was about 95% reduction in arrests throughout the people living there because they had a home to hang out in. Also there was about three million dollars saved by the city through the Emergency Room because the homeless living there were not getting as sick as often and were then not clogging up the ER with their illness problems.

Lastly I talked about my experience with the volunteer work that I have done this semester. I worked at the Central City Lutheran Mission and talked about my experience in working at the daily free meal, the after-school program, and in the men’s shelter.
I felt that I actually did a great job with my presentation to these teachers. It was really easy to speak to them and they responded with some though-provoking questions afterward. I learned a great amount more through researching the statistics about the homeless children and felt that I conveyed this and the other information well. Overall I felt like this presentation was a success.

Teaching Project

Homelessness, People, Poverty

College is an experience where students are exposed to many different types of elements including getting out of one’s comfort zone, learning about an uncomfortable topic, or having to stand in class and present on something you never knew about before the assignment. I realized there was probably a pocket full of student who had never thought about the concept of hunger, homelessness, and poverty in the context and depth that this course has discussed the topic. On campus, I am involved in various organizations including a national business fraternity. This being said, the reason I minored in SOAN was to expose myself to another side of life than what business describes. Many of the people in my fraternity have never been exposed to the other side in a scholarly and academic setting. This has lead them to jump to conclusions about homelessness that may not necessarily be true but they just conform to what society states we should think and feel when it comes to the topic of homelessness.

I did my teaching project on was my last day volunteering at my internship and I came straight from doing my hours to complete the presentation. The reason I did this was because everything about my feelings of homelessness and how I felt about the internship would be prevalent in my mind. This would also lead me to be more passionate during my presentation as well. As I said, I invited the members of my business fraternity to come to my presentation. I did not tell them of anything that was going to happen so I made the dress casual to spark more attendance. I opened up the presentation describing the course and what we have learned over the semester. I then had them create a budget for a certain set of characteristics a homeless person might face. I gave them the prompt of being a part time cashier at Walmart making roughly $8.50 an hour for 20 hours a week that has two kids, one five-year old and one two-year old, no car, and no nearby family. Most of the reactions to this was amazement. They could not even understand how a person in this situation is supposed to attempt to get by. I gave them 5-10 minutes to try to create a budget for this person but they could not carry out that. At this point, I started my actual presentation in which I talked about the average perception of homelessness and what the reality of the situation is. I told the story of Shanesha Taylor (I wrote about her in one of my blog post assignments) and how even though she was trying to get a job, she still faced several burdens that would be difficult to overcome. I then gave the HUD definition of what homelessness is defined as. Additionally, I went on to describe what it would take to end homelessness and how everyone can do their part. I used this moment to talk about my internship, both the positive and negative aspects. The teaching project itself was more difficult than I had thought. This was because I had learned so much that it was difficult to convey even 5 percent of my knowledge.

Who Holds the Power?

Government programs, Homelessness, How we should treat each other, News link, Poverty

Mayor Bloomberg of New York City has been making some interesting comments about homelessness in the past year. This article does a very good job of deconstructing Bloomberg’s ridiculous statements and proving how foolish he is. Bloomberg made the claim last Fall that NYC’s lack of housing is “a good sign” because it means that “there are no vacancies.” My question is WHO is this a “good sign” for? The answer is MAYOR BLOOMBERG (the 11th richest person in the country and 16th richest in the world, according to Wikipedia) and the rest of the upper class population of NYC. Of course they think that the lack of vacancies and affordable housing is a good thing – it benefits their “thriving” economy. But what about the 270,000 people who are on the waiting list for affordable housing? What are they supposed to do while Mayor Bloomberg creates more luxury housing in the places that public housing needs to be built? To add salt to the wound, Bloomberg has also tried to get the city to “fingerprint public housing residents, and make them scan in using a fingerprint scanner.” Mayor Bloomberg is a great example of a person who is using their power to their own advantage, rather than to help the citizens of his city. He stigmatizes the people he oppresses and he profits off of the homeless problem in NYC. There are far too many people like Bloomberg in power in the U.S. who put themselves first, tossing aside the people who need help the most.